Serving all the communities of the Buckeye Lake Region

Offenses need to be investigated, prosecuted with sentences enforced




Editor:

I complained about the Buckeye Lake Prosecutor/Solicitor not doing his job by letting a case (where a very young kitten was abandoned and left to die) lay on his desk for a few days shy of a YEAR. It is a slap in the face of the humane officers and police officers that do their jobs and gather evidence etc. when a prosecutor fails to bring these cases to the courtroom. It is also unfair to the communities who have to put up with these criminals who get away with such crimes and won’t think twice about doing it again.

On a different level, and since I’m having a little difficulty getting some Buckeye Lake records, here’s just one situation in the City of Newark where I think it’s more of a case where the probation department may be letting the community down.

A man has been seen on numerous occasions in the Newark/Heath area panhandling. He has held a sign saying Will Work for Food…..but he won’t. He doesn’t work for anything except to work the system.

He’s about 50 years old and he knows exactly how to work the system because he’s been at it for years. He does WHAT he wants WHEN he wants. His biggest fear is that he will go back to prison so he knows just how far he can go to land in the county jail instead of prison. (Apparently he is treated well in the county jail. Let’s bring back chain gangs, PLEASE!)

His “rap sheet” shows over 70 convictions for crimes over the past 25 years. He’s been arrested for things such as: Disorderly conduct, Receiving stolen property, Theft (under $500), Theft (under $1000), Criminal Damaging, Criminal Trespassing, Assault, Criminal Mischief, Domestic Violence, Open Container, Disorderly conduct while intoxicated, Criminal Damaging/ Endangering, Driving Under Suspension, Felonious Assault, Diving Under the Influence, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Menacing, Sale to Underage Person, Breaking & Entering and Felony Burglary plus some minor traffic offenses.

Fifteen of the 70+ crimes only occurred once. Of the remaining crimes committed multiple times, 25% of them were VIOLENT crimes (assault and domestic violence) and, although I don’t have all of the data, it is my belief that the majority of the crimes are committed against women.

The guy goes to court and pleads “Not Guilty” 98% of the time. He gets a court appointed attorney that the taxpayers pay for. He is found guilty and is fined; maybe receives a jail sentence (that sometimes gets suspended) and is put on probation for anywhere from one to three years. He owes more than $20,000 in fines because, of course, he doesn’t pay!

Most of the time, the terms of his probation are to stay away from alcohol and drugs and the person that he committed the crime against. And also most of the time he is in trouble again before his probation is up. On some occasions, his case is marked “probation closed unsuccessfully”. He’s been given multiple chances to work off fines but that almost never ends successfully.

It takes all pieces of the judicial/legal system to make a person think twice before committing these crimes again.

Continued next week…

Bonnie Mansfield
Buckeye Lake



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *